Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot launches organization to help community nonprofits

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago's former mayor has began an initiative to assist the city's nonprofits.

Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot addressed the audience at the City Club of Chicago Thursday. She announced the founding of the Chicago Vibrant Neighborhoods Collective.

"We can't just sit on the sidelines and wring our hands," Lightfoot said. "We can't sit on the sidelines and hope that someone else is going to step up into the void."

She was joined by leaders of some local non profits who shared the difficulty of doing their work while keeping the organization afloat.

"If you don't have the time to see somebody because you are doing inventory, or janitorial or IT, whatever else... you are not doing your real mission," said Craig Chico President and CEO of the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council.

Lightfoot spoke with ABC7 about her reasons for starting the organization.

"The back office work, it's not sexy work, but boy is it necessary and makes a difference in whether or not an organization is going to be able to deliver," Lightfoot said.

Lightfoot said she heard from nonprofits when she was mayor. She now watches as Chicago is tested as a welcoming city with its own ongoing challenges.

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"There's a lot of need for people who look like me and grew up in family circumstances like mine, and I think this is one way I can really give back," Lightfoot said.

Lightfoot plans to build more financial support for the organization, and then she will be on to other projects. It is possible she will write a book about her historic time as mayor.